Asking, “Can I have coffee with you to pick your brain?” is probably the worst possible way to get a meeting with someone with a busy schedule. Here’s a better approach.
As always thanks very much for sharing your continued insightful advice. You are spot-on, and I agree completely. Based my limited experience the most valuable approach is exactly as you outline ‘an exchange of ideas.’
I would encourage anyone seeking these exchanges to close with something like ‘thanks for sharing your time and please let me know how I may help you or return the favor in any way.’
David Cohen of Techstars shared his advice in this area and his views align with yours:
Thank you, Steve. This is superb! However, just like answering questions during interviews, this approach appears to be like shooting from the hip. The chance of my guessing correctly what of value to you is in lim = zero.
For interviews I mastered a skill of interviewing interviewers for the first 5 minutes or so. My success ratio of answering their questions then went from zero to through the roof.
Is this approach of interest to you? I have nothing to ask you at the moment and will be glad to pay forward.
Valuable post - yes, it's about customer discovery, and at a basic level, for a person to be empathetic to who you are, what your needs are. It's always amazing to me, that many people think nothing of taking from another person, as if that's the way the world works. The person who stops for a moment, to consider what someone else might need or value, is cut from a different cloth. Good parenting? :-)
- Do they post on social media? What do they post about?
- Does anyone you know know them? Can they tell what they might interested in?
- What is happening in their company/profession/industry? This is easy to find.
If you have spoken to people like them in some way then they will almost always want to hear about that.
If you reach out to them with an offer and they say “yeah, not interested in that” then answer with “OK, good to know, what would you be interested in?”
This is great, I really believe in it as well. For me the comercial area, sales team and marketing at big companies should create a new approach with steakholders and shareholders, customer as you have written in this article. Thank you Steve. Folks, I'm avaliable to chat and exchange ideas about Brazil and its innovation challenges.
I teach all professionals, not just entrepreneurs, the "give to get" philosophy. If you're going to ask for some value from another, you better have something to offer them. Most people don't generally sit around waiting to be asked to meet. They have to carve time out of their busy calendars to make it happen, so you better make it worth their while as well.
That’s so cool. Love the pay it forward culture in the valley.
What you mention about “…I’ll teach you everything I know about xyz” is a beautiful angle that comes to play in the mentor relationships that I enjoy the most. Where it’s a two way street.
I agree Steve! Giving is receiving. Give knowledge to get a call or meeting (with or without coffee). Then give more knowledge during the call or meeting. If you cannot give your value proposition in 30 seconds, you better work on that first, perhaps over your morning coffee.
We avoid utilizing any of the "silly and empty" techniques that appear to be prevalent in today's business climate. Steve Blank - appreciate the short article - as it reinforces these points. Not sure if it is the target industry segments, nature of our business or other factors - although we work with Technology companies focused on the Aerospace and Defense target segments - and that kind of silliness just doesn't fly. Rather - we put our emphasis for representing our company and our tech clients' interests in vehicles that are educational/instructional in-scope to get prospect attention and create a bridge of engagement - this includes Industry Guides, White Papers, Published Articles, Client and Project Profiles, etc. - that resonate with our target audiences' interests - hit home with challenges, opportunities and problem-set that relates - and is done in a non-pressure, easy way - with no silliness or fluky approaches. After all - the Aerospace and Defense target segments - are serious stuff! Will continue looking for your valuable articles and posts.
Steve,
As always thanks very much for sharing your continued insightful advice. You are spot-on, and I agree completely. Based my limited experience the most valuable approach is exactly as you outline ‘an exchange of ideas.’
I would encourage anyone seeking these exchanges to close with something like ‘thanks for sharing your time and please let me know how I may help you or return the favor in any way.’
David Cohen of Techstars shared his advice in this area and his views align with yours:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgDuMs4ZmCM
Thanks for all you do supporting entrepreneurs~
Thank you, Steve. This is superb! However, just like answering questions during interviews, this approach appears to be like shooting from the hip. The chance of my guessing correctly what of value to you is in lim = zero.
For interviews I mastered a skill of interviewing interviewers for the first 5 minutes or so. My success ratio of answering their questions then went from zero to through the roof.
Is this approach of interest to you? I have nothing to ask you at the moment and will be glad to pay forward.
Valuable post - yes, it's about customer discovery, and at a basic level, for a person to be empathetic to who you are, what your needs are. It's always amazing to me, that many people think nothing of taking from another person, as if that's the way the world works. The person who stops for a moment, to consider what someone else might need or value, is cut from a different cloth. Good parenting? :-)
That's a wonderful idea!
However, everyone is different. How do I know what a person I am targeting is looking for? How can I find this out?
Can you address these questions professor Blank, please?
Research 101:
- Do they post on social media? What do they post about?
- Does anyone you know know them? Can they tell what they might interested in?
- What is happening in their company/profession/industry? This is easy to find.
If you have spoken to people like them in some way then they will almost always want to hear about that.
If you reach out to them with an offer and they say “yeah, not interested in that” then answer with “OK, good to know, what would you be interested in?”
Odds are, they will tell you.
Thank you, Matt. Good ideas!!
Learning to look for win-wins is a good skill to develop at any professional stage. Love this insight to do it when asking for meetings.
This is great, I really believe in it as well. For me the comercial area, sales team and marketing at big companies should create a new approach with steakholders and shareholders, customer as you have written in this article. Thank you Steve. Folks, I'm avaliable to chat and exchange ideas about Brazil and its innovation challenges.
Good article! How about “Let’s catch up for a coffee and I’ll tell you what I learned over past 25+ years about getting ACROSS THE CHASM?”
I teach all professionals, not just entrepreneurs, the "give to get" philosophy. If you're going to ask for some value from another, you better have something to offer them. Most people don't generally sit around waiting to be asked to meet. They have to carve time out of their busy calendars to make it happen, so you better make it worth their while as well.
That’s so cool. Love the pay it forward culture in the valley.
What you mention about “…I’ll teach you everything I know about xyz” is a beautiful angle that comes to play in the mentor relationships that I enjoy the most. Where it’s a two way street.
Discovering Steve Blank existed was worth the full price of admission at Haas.
I agree Steve! Giving is receiving. Give knowledge to get a call or meeting (with or without coffee). Then give more knowledge during the call or meeting. If you cannot give your value proposition in 30 seconds, you better work on that first, perhaps over your morning coffee.
We avoid utilizing any of the "silly and empty" techniques that appear to be prevalent in today's business climate. Steve Blank - appreciate the short article - as it reinforces these points. Not sure if it is the target industry segments, nature of our business or other factors - although we work with Technology companies focused on the Aerospace and Defense target segments - and that kind of silliness just doesn't fly. Rather - we put our emphasis for representing our company and our tech clients' interests in vehicles that are educational/instructional in-scope to get prospect attention and create a bridge of engagement - this includes Industry Guides, White Papers, Published Articles, Client and Project Profiles, etc. - that resonate with our target audiences' interests - hit home with challenges, opportunities and problem-set that relates - and is done in a non-pressure, easy way - with no silliness or fluky approaches. After all - the Aerospace and Defense target segments - are serious stuff! Will continue looking for your valuable articles and posts.